La Garde blanche

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Bulgakov's elegant first novel, recently reissued by Melville House in Michael Glenny's translation, explores the October Revolution's impact on Kiev, referred to as The City. The narrative unfolds over two pivotal days during the Russian Civil War, December 13 and 14, 1918, as Kiev transitions from the control of the Ukrainian Hetman Skoropadsky, a German ally, to the forces of Petlyura, a mysterious Ukrainian nationalist. Petlyura's troops particularly target Russian officers who supported the corrupt regime. Central to the story is the Turbin family: Alexei, a doctor returning from WWI; his 17-year-old brother Nikolai, a military cadet; and their sister Elena, who inspires Alexei's officer friends. They are joined by their comic foil, Vasily Lisovich, affectionately called Vasilisa, an almost Dostoevskian character. The novel showcases Bulgakov's skills as both a dramatist and prose artist, with surreal elements foreshadowing his later work, Master and Margarita. It vividly depicts the chaos of civil war while exploring themes of family loyalty and friendship. Initially published as a magazine serial in 1925, the project was interrupted when the magazine folded. Despite its complexities, the story's stage adaptation ran in Soviet Russia from 1926 to 1941, while the book itself was not published until 1966.